Legislation to upgrade Utah’s law on cockfighting passed the House Judiciary Committee with a vote of 7-2. SB 112, which now moves on for a full vote in the House, makes it a felony on the second offense to participate in the blood sport where two roosters fight each other to the death while people place bets. A first offense will be prosecuted as a Class A misdemeanor.

The Humane Society of the United States is offering a reward of up to $5,000 for information leading to the identification, arrest and conviction of the person or persons responsible for the brutal stabbing of a young male pit bull in Red Lake, Minn.

On World Spay Day 2014 more than 600 event organizers around the world hosted hundreds of events and spaying or neutering thousands of animals, raising awareness of how lowering birth rates reduces the number of animals who will face euthanasia in shelters or death on the streets

Sows confined in cramped cages known as gestation crates were fed ground up intestines from piglets who had recently succumbed to a highly contagious diarrheal disease, an undercover exposé of Iron Maiden Hog Farm in Owensboro, Kentucky revealed.

A subcommittee of the Virginia House Committee on Agriculture, Chesapeake and Natural Resources voted down legislation to restrict inhumane fox pens. The Humane Society of the United States Virginia State Director Laura Donahue issued a statement in response.

North Carolina black bears could be subjected to the unnecessary, unsporting and inhumane practice of bear baiting, in which bears are lured by piles of food for an easy kill. The North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission is considering a proposal to authorize bear baiting, which is generally prohibited in the state. The Humane Society of the United States and hundreds of North Carolina residents submitted comments urging the commission to keep bear baiting out of the Tar Heel state.

The California Department of Fish and Wildlife recently seized 2,000 pounds of illegal shark fins from a San Francisco merchant. That merchant is a part of an association whose members sold and distributed shark fins to restaurants and grocery stores and who had sued the State of California challenging the constitutionality of the state’s ban on the sale and trade of shark fins. In the wake of this major bust, the association has voluntarily dismissed its legal challenge.

Defenders of Wildlife, Friends of the Sea Otter, The Humane Society of the United States and The Humane Society Wildlife Land Trust, California Department of Fish and Wildlife, Monterey Bay Aquarium, U.C. Davis Karen C. Drayer Wildlife Health Center, and individual donor Dusty Nabor, are offering a $21,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the person(s) responsible for fatally shooting three threatened southern sea otters found at Asilomar Beach, near Monterey, California in early September 2013.

The Virginia House passed legislation to strengthen the state’s protections for victims of domestic violence and their beloved family pets. House Bill 972, sponsored by Delegate Ben Cline, R-Rockbridge, will authorize courts to grant care and custody of a family pet to petitioners of protective orders and passed unanimously with bipartisan support.

In the wake of an investigation that exposed animal cruelty at an Idaho dairy factory farm, the dairy industry is pushing lawmakers to pass a bill aimed at criminalizing whistleblowers. To counter this, the HSUS is launching statewide a TV advertisement calling out the dairy industry and its backers for trying to keep the public in the dark.

For several years, the U.S. Department of Agriculture has had an open investigation regarding big cat breeder and exhibitor Joe Schreibvogel of the Garold Wayne Interactive Zoological Park, formerly GW Exotic Animal Park in Wynnewood, Okla. for violations of the Animal Welfare Act. Animal protection organizations have asked the USDA to permanently revoke Schreibvogel’s exhibitor license.

The Indiana Senate shot down legislation that would legalize captive hunting operations. S.B. 404 would have allowed privately-owned facilities to stock deer and elk for trophy-seekers, letting them pay to shoot the semi-tame animals trapped in enclosures for guaranteed kills.

To meet the January 2015 deadline, San Diego County egg producer Frank Hilliker has initiated the conversion of his commercial egg production facilities to meet the standards set by California’s Proposition 2.

The Humane Society of the United States, through its Platero Project, is offering a $5,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the person or persons responsible for shooting two wild burros.

Membership

The Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) is registered as a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization. Contributions to The Humane Society of the United States are tax-deductible to the extent permitted by law. The HSUS's tax identification number is 53-0225390.